Lessons in Dueling
by Skye-Yue
Summary: Yugi's starting his freshman year at Duel Academy, and he's seen some pretty interesting people along the way. A guy named Jaden, A group of people named Yusei, Jack, and Crow, and who in the world is "Atem" or "Yami" or whatever his name is? Yugi Moto, what have you gotten yourself into now? Warnings: AU, Male/Male pairings, 18 situations, slight OOCness, Rating to go up later.


_**Hey guys, Skye here. This is a prompt I took up on Tumblr, and I wanted to post it to here, so yaaay. It's a YGO High School AU, with all the seasons (Except 0) mixed in. Expect yaoi/shonen-ai pairings, the most prevalent being Puzzleshipping and Keyshipping.**_

_**There will be a few more of my own addition, as Keyshipping and Puzzleshipping were part of the prompt. And those are 2 pf my OTPs, so heh heh heh... I'm gonna exploit the hell out of them. PlusAtemissupposedtobedouche-yatfirstso -evil laughter-**_

_**Warnings: Possible OOCness (I have not seen GX, nor do I plan to, so any GX characters are probably going to be OOC, I'm sorry.) Male/Male pairings. 18+ situations.**_

* * *

"Promise me you'll be alright, Yugi." Solomon Moto stood at the airport's entrance, looking worriedly over his only grandson. Old plum eyes locked onto vibrant amethyst ones and a hand was placed on 16-year-old Yugi Moto's shoulder. "I'm not all that fond about sending you off to a remote island for school…"

Yugi hugged his grandfather, laughing softly. "I'll be fine, Grampa. I promise." He pulled away from the hug quickly, both out of excitement to head to the profound Duel Academy, which had sent him an acceptance letter earlier that summer, and because he knew that if he held on to his grandfather for too long, he'd never want to leave.

After all, it was hard to leave behind the only family you had and go out into the unknown.

"Besides, we're allowed to come back for a couple of days after the first two weeks, so you'll be seeing me again in no time! After that, it's Thanksgiving, and Christmas!" Yugi flashed his grandfather a smile, hoping to lift the old man's spirits.

"I suppose…" Solomon still didn't sound very convinced.

"Grampa…" Yugi put his hands on his grandfather's shoulders. "I'll call you as soon as the plane lands, alright?" The last thing he wanted was for his elder to worry.

Solomon exhaled with a soft smile, then smirked to Yugi, mischievousness flashing in his old eyes. "Aaaand?"

Yugi laughed, hugging his grandfather one last time. "And every chance I get afterwards."

Solomon laughed, returning the hug from Yugi, knowing he wouldn't see his grandson for some time. "That's my boy." They both pulled away, and he watched as Yugi walked into the airport, and shouted, flashing Yugi a thumbs up as he did so. "You do great, alright?"

Yugi looked over his shoulder and returned the thumbs up to him. "Always!" He sent his grandfather one final smile before the automatic doors closed, separating the two.

Solomon's smile died away, as he sighed and headed back to his car. "It's sure gonna be lonely without my Yugi around." Getting in the car, he buckled up and bemused to himself. "Perhaps I should find something to do in my newly found spare time.

I always did want to open a game shop…"

* * *

After being searched by a metal detector, paying for his baggage, and grabbing a quick bite to eat at a small Burger World, Yugi plopped down into an empty seat by his plane's arriving area. He closed his eyes to relax, feeling the butterflies in his stomach; _Maybe I shouldn't have eaten that burger..._ He had finally felt his nerves calm down when…

"Out of my way, out of my way, out of my way!" The voice was practically screaming as a male ran down the terminal, panting heavily. "Man, why did I pick today of all days to oversleep!?" He saw an employee of the airport, and practically latched onto their shirt. "Did I miss the flight? Oh, please tell me I didn't miss the flight!" His brown hair was a mess, his bangs matted onto his forehead. Before the employee could even answer, the kid broke out into a whine. "I can't believe I missed my flight to the Duel Academy!" He sunk to his knees, hanging his head. "And I had finally gotten accepted!"

Duel Academy? Yugi looked at his Dark Magician watch, the hour hand, which was Dark Magician Girl's staff, was pointing to the 10, and the minute hand, which was Dark Magician's staff, was pointing straight up at the 12. No, this boy wasn't late. The plane wouldn't arrive for another 30 minutes. Yugi turned his head to look at the brown haired boy, only to find that the employee had fled the scene, and the boy was practically curled up on his side into the fetal position.

Laughing softly, Yugi got up, and walked over to the other teen, shaking his shoulder a bit. "Hey, are you alright?"

"No." Came the mumbled reply. A brown eye looked up to Yugi, who was on his knees by the teen. "I missed my flight, which means I missed my chance to be the world's best duelist!"

Yugi sighed, shaking his head a bit. "What's your name?"

"Jaden." Replied the brown haired teen. "My name's Jaden Yuki."

"I'm Yugi Moto." Yugi smiled at Jaden. "And I can honestly tell you that you haven't missed the flight to Duel Academy."

"You serious, bro?" Jaden practically jumped up, landing perfectly on his feet. "All right! I can still get my game on!"

Yugi, who had fallen onto his behind in shock of Jaden's sudden 'revival', sweatdropped. _Well, that was fast_.

"Wait, how d'you know I haven't missed it?" He extended a hand, offering to help Yugi up from his spot. The smaller teen gratefully accepted his hand, and pulled himself up, brushing a bit of dust off his jeans.

"Because—"

A calm, smooth voice interrupted him. "Because the flight doesn't get here until 10:30, and won't leave until 11:00."

Both teens turned their heads to see a tall, slightly tanned teen in a dark blue jacket and jeans walk to them. His hair was black, with natural streaks of blonde in it; His eyes a deep blue.

"The name's Yusei Fudo." Yusei held out a hand to Jaden, offering to shake. "This will be my third year at Duel Academy."

"I'm Jaden Yuki!" Jaden eagerly accepted then handshake, smiling brightly. "And really? Third year? This will be my first!"

"Mine too." Yugi said shyly, extending a hand. "I'm Yugi. Yugi Moto."

Yusei nodded and shook his hand as well. "Jaden, Yugi. Got it." He smiled and nodded over to where Yugi was previously sitting. "Why don't we sit down and talk. I'd rather not stand in the middle of the terminal."

Jaden chuckled awkwardly, knowing he was the reason they were still standing there. "Yeah, let's sit." They walked over to the seats and sat, and Yugi moved his carry-on bag from the floor to his lap. Yusei sat facing Jaden and Yugi, who sat next to each other.

"So what kind of cool cards do you have, Yusei?" Jaden's eyes were practically shining with excitement.

Yusei chuckled and went to his extra deck, pulling out his favorite and ace monster: Stardust Dragon. Both of the younger teens gaped at the sight of the Synchro Monster, neither one of them having something like it in their decks.

"Wow…" Yugi murmured. "It's practically shining."

"I'll say! It's awesome!" Jaden wanted to reach out and grab the card for himself, but refrained from doing so.

"Please. Stardust Dragon isn't all that great. If you wanna see an awesome card," suddenly spoke a teen, who walked towards them from behind Yusei. "Then get a load of this!" The next thing Yugi saw was another white card – a Synchro Monster – of a horned, giant red dragon. "This is my Red Dragon Archfiend!"

"C'mon you guys." A second voice chimed, and a teen with spiked orange hair stood next to Yusei, folding his arms. "Blackwings are where it's at!"

Yusei sighed, using one hand to return his card to his extra deck, and the other hand to rub a temple like he was getting a migraine. "Jack, Crow. Come on, guys."

Crow spoke up again, laughing and jokingly slapping Yusei on the back. "Oh come on, Yusei. We're just havin' a little fun!" Crow looked to Yugi and Jaden and smirked. "Ah, these must be some of the fresh meat coming it." He took a step back and did a silly bow. "Crow 'The Bullet' Hogan, junior at Duel Academy. Pleased to meet'cha!"

Jack 'hmph'ed, and returned his card to the extra deck as well. "Why are you even hanging around with these kids, Yusei? Plane's comin' in about 15 minutes."

The azure-eyed teen glared up at Jack, rolling his eyes. "They're going to Duel Academy with us, Jack."

"These kids seriously got in?" Jack Atlas stared incredulously at Jaden and Yugi,

Crow smirked. "Alright!" He walked over to Yugi and pointed at his hair. "Hey guys. Doncha think he looks like Yami?"

Yusei looked at Crow like we was an idiot, then looked back to Yugi, his eyes widening a bit in surprise. "Now that you mention it…"

As Jaden argued with Jack as to why he was not a kid, and how he was going to be the world's best duelist, Yugi tilted his head a bit and continued to talk to his new friends. "Yami? Who's that?"

Yusei opened his mouth to answer, only to be interrupted by Crow, who put his hands on his hips, crossed his eyes, and altered his voice into a ridiculously low pitch. "Who is that? Who is that you dare ask? I am none other than Atem Sennen, self-proclaimed duelist extraordinaire. Women swoon at my feet, as do some men! I practically have a harem! My dueling skills are unmatched, even by the son of the headmaster himself, Seto Kaiba! Even without my Egyptian Gods, no one can beat me!"

Yugi was laughing at the mock impression up until the last sentence. "Egyptian God cards?!"

Yusei nodded. "Yes, Atem, or Yami as he prefers, is the number one duelist at Duel Academy. Ever since is entrance exams last year, he hasn't been defeated by anyone, student or teacher. He's won countless tournaments, and won the Egyptian God cards from, them." Yusei crossed a leg, folding his arms a bit. "He's a good guy once you get to know him. Otherwise he's just… well…"

"A dick." Jack said bluntly, causing Jaden to get onto him about not finishing their argument.

Yusei simply closed his eyes and shrugged. "More or less. But like I said, he's a good guy once you get to know him." He looked to Yugi and smirked a bit. "Who knows? Perhaps he'll take a liking to you because you look a lot like him."

Yugi laughed. "Me? Look like someone else?" With his short stature and tri-colored, star-shaped hair, Yugi highly doubted that there was anyone in the world who looked like him.

"Well, you know what they say!" Crow chirped excitedly. "Everyone has a doppelganger out there somewhere!"

Laughing, Yugi shook his head. "I'll believe it when I see it."

Yusei began to say something, but was drowned out by a voice from the speakers. "Now boarding flight 410: Central Domino City to Duel Academy Island."

"That's us!" Jaden exclaimed. He quickly grabbed his carry-on bag and headed to the loading dock for the plane. "Come on, guys!"

Crow nudged Yusei with his elbow and smirked. "Hey Yusei, I heard this plane has three seats a row! Now you don't have to leave me all by myself while you get all buddy-buddy with Jack."

"Three a row?" Yusei repeated. He looked back to Jaden, who was bothering the female flight attendant as she ushered people through the loading dock, then to Yugi, who stood before him, making sure his carry-on was all set. "But what about you guys?" Yusei looked to Yugi with a bit of concern in his eyes.

Yugi smiled and waved a hand in dismissal. "It's alright, Yusei. You go on and sit with Jack and Crow. Jaden and I will be fine."

Unconvinced, Yusei sighed. "Alright, Yugi. But sit in a row by us, alright? Some of the people boarding here aren't the kindest."

Crow nodded with a smirk. "Yeah, take Jack here for example!" He pointed over to Jack, who had followed Jaden, and was holding him up off the ground by the back of the neck of his grey t-shirt in an attempt to keep him from harassing the airport staff. "See that? Unnecessary roughness."

"Yes, but that's Jack's way of doing things." Yusei explained, putting one of his hands on a hip. "It always has been."

Yugi laughed, getting a feeling that Jaden and Jack would be close. "Come on, guys, let's head onto the plane."

* * *

_"This is your flight attendant speaking. We've now entered the appropriate airspace and shall be arriving at Duel Academy Island in approximately 3 hours. There will be a time change, so even though we left at 11:00, we should arrive at 1:00."_ The female attendant flipped her hair, and cleared her throat before speaking again. _"In a few moments, the seatbelt light will go off, meaning you can unbuckle and walk about the cabin. Just please, no horseplay. If we enter into turbulence, please find your seat, and buckle back up. Thank you."_

Jaden stopped staring out the window and whistled, unbuckling the moment the announcement ended. "Aw right!" He threw his hands up in the air, and exclaimed. "Now, I'm starving! What's on the menu?"

"Let me see…" Yugi reached down to the pocket of the seat in front of him, which held several papers, magazines, pamphlets, and finally, a food menu. "There you go, Jaden."

"Tight! Thanks, buddy!" Jaden happily took the menu from Yugi, and skimmed through it. "Man, look at all this food!" Smiling, Jaden reached up above their heads, pressing a green button with a picture of a flight attendant.

Laughing, Yugi unbuckled his seatbelt and got up. "I'll be right back."

"Alright, Yugi." Jaden laughed and laid back, waiting for the attendant to come. "Ya want me to order you anything?"

Shaking his head, Yugi smiled. "No thanks, Jaden. I'm not hungry. I had a bite to eat before we got on the plane." With that, he turned, walking towards the lavatory in the back of the plane. Upon the way there, he came across a lanky, blonde haired teen, sitting all by himself in a window seat close to the back of the plane. Yugi noted how displeased he looked as he stared out the window, his breath fogging up the glass. He opened his mouth to ask what was bothering the teen, when the urge hit him again. Bathroom. Now. Yugi quickly reached the back of the plane, shut the bathroom door behind him, and switched the label from 'vacant' to 'occupied'.

…

"And with that," Jack said smugly, a cocky grin coming over his face, "your Blackwing's toast, Crow."

Yusei quickly did the math in his head. _With Jack's Archfiend being 3000 attack points, then…_ "That's game."

"What?" Crow half-yelled. "Oh, come on, I must have an extra 100 or so points! I was just startin' to get on a roll!"

"Roll-shmoll." Jack scoffed and picked his cards off of the tray that they had put between them to put their cards on. "You're just upset that I beat you for the third time in a row."

Yusei sighed as his two best friends argued again, and closed his eyes, exhaling deeply.

"Besides," Jack continued. "I'm the King of Speed, the Master of Faster! It only makes sense that I—"

_Click!_

"Th-that I would bea—"

_Click! Click!_

"Alright, what the hell is that?!" Jack sat up straight, looking around for the source of the clicking noise that was both irritating and interrupting him. He looked to his right, where Jaden and Yugi's row were, only to see Jaden sitting by himself. "Oi." Jack nudged Yusei's shoulder. "You're short a freshman, mate." After that, Yusei went to talk to Jaden, asking where Yugi went. As for Jack, he stood up, his seatbelt already unbuckled, and he walked down the aisle, listening for that damned noise.

_Click!_

_Click! Click!_

It wasn't until Jack reached near the front rows that he found out what it was. There, sitting by herself in the third row from the front, was a girl with long black hair, taking pictures out the window with a camera. "Oi, girl with the camera!"

The girl froze in place, and turned slowly, seeing who called her. She had on a pair of glasses, and her expression was practically mortified. "Y-Yes?"

Jack rested his arm against the top of an unoccupied chair. "Ain't there any way you can turn the noise off of that thing? I can hear it from my seat a few rows back."

A slight blush came over the girl's face, and she nodded. "Yes, sir! I'm sorry!"

Jack rolled his eyes. Sir? She must be a freshman. "Just whatever. Keep it down, alright freshman?"

Pushing up her glasses, the girl looked confused. "How did you know I was gonna be a—"

"Because no one else calls other students 'sir'." Jack sighed and stood straight up. "What's your name, girl?"

"Carly." She said as she took her glasses off her face, cleaning them with the hem of her shirt. "Carly Carmine."

"Carly, you say?" Jack folded his arms, giving a small sigh. "Well, _Carly_, just turn the noise off that damned thing of, a'ight?" With that, Jack turned back around and headed towards his seat.

Carly, on the other hand, watched him carefully, a small blush on her face. "He was kinda cute…" She murmured softly. She stared in his direction a little bit longer, before quickly remembering to turn off the flash on her camera.

…

Yugi exited the lavatory, gently closing the door behind him. Again, he looked to where the blonde teen he had seen was sitting, and still he looked downcast. Yugi's natural instinct was to check and see what was wrong with him, until Yusei's words popped into his head. _"Some of the people boarding here aren't the kindest."_

Yugi frowned, shaking his head a bit. Someone that upset surely needed to talk out what was wrong. Ignoring Yusei's warning, Yugi walked to the blonde's row, sitting in the aisle seat, leaving a seat in between the two of them. The blonde was facing the window, his back to Yugi. "Um, hey… Are you ok?"

The blonde moved, looking back to the voice behind him. Honey-brown eyes met large amethyst ones as the blonde sat up, revealing that he was somewhat tall. He frowned slightly, giving Yugi a bit of a glare. "Who a'e you?"

Yugi flinched slightly at the small bit of annoyance in the blonde's voice. "I'm Yugi Moto. I saw you sitting here by yourself, and I was wondering if… if you'd want to sit with me and a friend."

Arching an eyebrow, the blonde simply stared at Yugi incredulously. "… Ya serious?"

Yugi nodded, innocence evident on his face. "Yeah. Why would I lie to you? I don't even know you."

The blonde thought for a second, then shook his head. "Nah thanks. I t'ink I'm fine w'ere I am."

Yugi nodded, a bit saddened that he was turned down, but smiled nonetheless. "Alright then." Yugi stood up, looking to the blonde once more. "Well, if you want to come sit with us later, the offer will still be open then." He turned, heading back to his row, when the blonde spoke again.

"Joey."

Yugi stopped and turned, looking a bit confused. "Huh?"

The blonde gave Yugi a smirk. "Mah name's Joey. Joey Wheeler." Joey then turned back to looking out the window, and didn't say another word.

Yugi smiled softly. "It was nice to meet you, Joey." He then turned and headed back to his seat, returning to a very impatient Jaden, and a slightly confused Yusei. "Hey guys." Yugi said, leaning on the back of a seat. "What's up?"

"Yugi." Yusei said, turning to face the petite duelist. "Where'd you go?"

"I had to use the bathroom." Yugi admitted sheepishly.

"Ah." Yusei nodded, and then got up and out of the row so Yugi could return to his seat. The petite duelist sat down, and Yusei returned to his seat right across the aisle. He turned to face Yugi, the two easily striking up a conversation about campus grounds and dueling and whatnot.

After a few minutes, a flight attendant with a large cart of assorted foods made her way down the aisle, stopping at Jaden and Yugi's row. "Ok, I've got 3 orders of fries, 2 double cheese burgers, everything on it, hold the mustard, buffalo chicken wings…" Yugi's jaw dropped as the woman went on… and on. Jaden on the other hand had a grand smile on his face, rubbing his hands together as he licked his lips.

"Mmm-mmm! That sounds great! Thanks!" Jaden reached over Yugi, grabbing a burger, and messily bit down into it. He looked to Yugi, his mouth full of food, and spoke. "Ma know, moo can 'ave summa 'is 'ood too."

Yugi's amethyst eyes grew wide as he shook his head. "N-No thanks…" He couldn't believe the sight. Did Jaden really just order all of this?!

"Umm, sir?" The attendant smiled slightly as she punched in numbers on a calculator. "Your total comes out to $135.45."

Now it was Jaden's turn for his jaw to drop. "W-What?! That can't be right!"

Blinking with a slight frown, the attendant looked to the calculator. "Oh, no, you're right." At that, she began punching the numbers in again. "I mistyped. Your total is real $161.45."

"You have to pay for the food?!" Jaden asked, practically letting out a squeak in shock. "That's messed up!"

"Sir, I'm sorry, but you're going to have to pay for this somehow."

"But I—"

"Lemme guess." Jack's voice came from the row across, and all three people – Jaden, Yugi, and the female attendant – turned to look. "You don't have any money, do you?"

"No…" Jaden admitted sheepishly. "I got to go here after winning a tournament in a different city."

Jack shook his head, then reached into his pocket, pulling out a wallet. After a few seconds of digging around, he pulled out a silver card with the word "Atlas" on it. "Here Maureen. Put it on my tab."

The woman smiled and graciously accepted the card. "Alright. Thank you Mister Atlas. And what should I say if Mr. Goodwin calls and asks about this? I don't think he'd be fond of you paying for a—"

"Just tell him it was Crow's fault." Jack said nonchalantly, shrugging his shoulders.

"Hey!" Crow looked at Jack, mouth agape.

Yugi, Yusei, and Jaden all laughed, and the attendant swiped the credit card through her machine, it giving a "ding!" of conformation. "Good to go!" She said cheerily as she handed the card back to Jack. "You have a good day, Mister Atlas." With that, she turned and departed the scene, leaving the cart of food there.

Jaden looked down at the food in his hand, then to Jack, somewhat sheepishly. "Hey, umm, thanks. You didn't have to do that."

Jack scoffed and tucked his credit card back into his wallet. "Whatever. Just don't get used to it, kid."

Yusei gave a bit of a smirk, being able to tell easily that Jack would help Jaden out again if he needed it. From what he knew about one of his best friends, he could tell that Jack had taken a liking to Jaden, whether Jack himself knew it or not.

Jaden smiled and said, "Hey, you guys want some too?"

Crow's eyes widened. "Awesome! Hey, Yusei, get me a burger!" Everyone laughed at that, and eagerly helped themselves to everything Jaden ordered.

Everyone, but Yugi, that is.

He and Jaden had switched seats, so that the brown-haired duelist could reach the food and talk to the others easier. Yugi, who was now sitting in Jaden's window seat, stared out the window, watching the clouds roll by. His mind wandered everywhere all at once. He was curious about the person Yusei and the others were mentioning. What was his name, Atem or Yami or something like that? What Yugi remembered most is that he hadn't lost a single duel. And that intimidated the teen

Yugi had managed to get here by the same way Jaden did. He won the opportunity in a tournament. But the thing was, he wasn't very confident in his skills. As fond as he was of his new friends, Yugi couldn't help but wonder if he made the right choice by taking the chance to come here.

_Perhaps I should have stayed back in Domino…_


End file.
